Chromatography Quiz #14 Results

We would like to congratulate our grand prize winners of our last newsletter’s Carbamate/Glyphosate Crossword Puzzle Chromatography Quiz: Jim Balk from DHHS Public Health Environmental Laboratory, Amanda Comando and Dan Raphaely from SCWA, June Black from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Narjes Ghafoori from LA County Environmental Toxicology Laboratory, Helene Lachance from Shur-Gain Nutreco, Holger Franz from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Matthew Hartz from Underwriters Laboratories, Hossein Hajipour from Texas Department of State Health Services, and Daniel Durham from Georgia Department of Natural Resources!!!

They have each won and will shortly be receiving: a Tortuga To Go Suitcase Gift Pack from tortugarumcakes.com!  This “vacation in a box” includes three rum cakes and an 8oz package of coffee, shipped directly from the Cayman Islands!

We would like to thank all of you for your submissions!

The correct answers for the Carbamate/Glyphosate crossword puzzle:

Across:

1. Pickering column protection system: GARD
6. Heated or Ambient: REACTOR
10. ChlorAC buffer for sample ________: PRESERVATION
11. Over-pressure ________ valve: RELIEF
12. Internal Standard: BDMC
13. Faulty check valves yield a noisy ________: BASELINE
14. Solution to late, broad Glyphosate and AMPA peaks: RESTORE

Down:

1. Glyphosate oxidized by hypochlorite: GLYCINE
2. Pickering Catalog number 3700-2000: THIOFLUOR
3. Reagent one: HYDROLYSIS
4. Fourth peak: METHOMYL
5. Glyphosate herbicide: ROUNDUP
7. _______ detection: FLUORESCENCE
8. o-phthaladehyde: OPA
9. Gradient, water and _______ : METHANOL

Thank you!
Pickering Labs

Chromatography Quiz #15:

Identify the error made when running the Amino Acids chromatogram below and win a prize!  Simply email your answer as well as your full contact information to Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com by May 1, 2014 in order to win.  You will receive email confirmation that your submission has been received.  The answer to the quiz and winner congratulations will be published in the next issue (to be anonymous, please notify Rebecca in submission).

Amino Acid Analysis – Baseline Noise

Pinnacle PCX post-column instrument is being used, in a traditional HPLC setup as recommended by Pickering Labs.  The chromatogram is expanded to show the baseline noise.  The quiz question is: what is causing this problem?

Post-column conditions for amino acid analysis:
Reagent 1: Trione
Reactor 1: 130 °C, 0.5 mL
Reagent flow rate: 0.3 mL/min

Detection: UV-Vis Detector, 570 nm for primary amino acids, 440 nm for secondary amino acids

Problem Chromatogram:

Please use our website to view any reference Amino Acid chromatogram – the problem for this quiz is not application-specific, so any of our AAA methods could be applicable.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Rebecca at rlsmith@pickeringlabs.com.